


Take A Breath

by fencingfox



Series: This October Night [31]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fictober 2019, Inktober 2019, Kinktober 2019, Near Death Experiences, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 05:37:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencingfox/pseuds/fencingfox
Summary: Of all the times to be dying of oxygen deprivation, this has to be the worst one yet. It's worrying that Tom has something to compare the experience to.





	Take A Breath

* * *

**| "Scared, me?" | embrace | aftercare | ripe |**

* * *

"Tom, you awake still?" Tom struggles to open his eyes and look at the cave wall. He feels so sleepy. Oxygen deprivation will do that to a person.

"Hmm?" He can hear her calm breaths. He envies her abundant lungs for a moment. She isn't yet struggling like him in the thin air of the cave.

"Don't go to sleep," B'Elanna asserts. She shifts a little closer, providing him with some of her warmth. He notes gravely that in a situation like this, he's more likely to freeze to death before suffocating. It's not as comforting a thought as it could be. While suffocating is an undignified way to go, freezing is too slow for his tastes. He tightens his numb arms around B'Elanna's shoulders more firmly. She leans closer to his chest.

"Tryin' not to," he murmurs. "Scared I'll die first?" He asks honestly. The lack of oxygen is affecting his self-control.

When they'd started over, neither had any way of knowing if the other was still interested. Asking point blank was out of the question for Tom, and B'Elanna probably never considered it. When they did find out, starting with B'Elanna's blood fever, Tom purposely moved slowly. He thought it best when she'd been anxious about having been so forward. Sure, she'd bit him before, but never on the face like that, never quite so Klingon.

Slow was necessary. Perhaps it was the nature of being stranded in the Delta Quadrant where neither could leave if things went badly. Perhaps it was because they'd both grown older since their time on Chakotay's ship. Perhaps it was that so much more seemed on the line when their whole lives would likely be spent on _Voyager_. Perhaps it was because their future just hadn't felt ripe for the picking yet. Being slow agonized Tom, but on the whole, he has a lot of good reasons for doing so.

B'Elanna pulls the regulation blanket up a little higher, re-tucking it between Tom's right shoulder and the wall. He holds on to the blanket's other side so it doesn't slip down B'Elanna's back.

"Scared, me?" She shakes her head and offers him a smile. "Not at all."

"Liiiiar," he drawls as he lets his heavy head rest against the wall. The realization brings a lump in his throat. _She actually cares if I die._ She'd seemed pretty upset about the Cardassian fiasco five years ago, so it doesn't catch him completely off guard. The feeling is more that he feels guilty for being so much frailer than her. He feels B'Elanna nuzzle her cheek to his chest. He takes a slow breath. If he could ask a Vidiian for another lung, he would. She's silent for a long time and Tom has to glance down again to make sure she hasn't drifted to sleep.

"Tom?" She asks almost as soon as he lays eyes on the top of her head.

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever look for me?" He's a little surprised that after officially dating for so long, now is when she wants to know. He thinks about his time at Auckland. Not a second went by that he wasn't thinking about her. When Janeway approached him with her offer, naming Chakotay, he couldn't help but wonder if she was still on his ship. If so, he had promised to figure out a way of keeping her out of prison. She'd probably go mad without an engineering problem to solve. Wielding shuttles wouldn't suit her at all.

"Didjwou look for me?" He answers. If he'd been more lucid and in better control of his tongue, he might have mentioned the plans he'd mentally drummed up so long ago to prevent her from entering prison. And if they failed, he'd be sure to stay close enough to visit. He'd wondered at the time if Janeway would be authorized to marry two criminals.

"I didn't have the luxury."

"_Val Jeeean_," Tom pushes out. Talking is hard. He just wants to sleep. "I couldn' eeeither." He takes another breath. The body is a mysterious thing. It feels like he's breathing. It sounds like he's breathing. Only, what he's breathing is poison while his body tells him everything's fine. Maybe it's a defense mechanism: a way to stay calm in case rescue is on the way. He feels B'Elanna take a simultaneous breath next to him.

"Shh," she sounds like she'll cry. Tom wants to cry too. This can't be the end. He feels his lip quiver. His eyes feel warm. "Rest. It'll be okay." _Will it?_ Tom's grateful for the permission, but he can't die without kissing her at least one more time.

"Kisssss." B'Elanna tilts her head up at the same time that Tom tilts his down. They bump foreheads. B'Elanna tilts the rest of the way to press her lips to his. He tastes salt. He doesn't know if they're his tears or hers. His lips half-cooperate. They clumsily shift over B'Elanna's, but her lips still flood his body with endorphins, stronger perhaps, due to the oxygen deprivation. He pulls his head away because it's too heavy to hold where it is. When his head leans back against the wall he tries his best to be clear. "I love you." She hugs his torso.

"I love you," her voice is heavy with tears. "Rest."

**=/\=**

B'Elanna feels Tom relax against the wall. She fights relentlessly against the fear that he's dead. That he's still holding on to the blanket claims he isn't. She waits, urging herself to breath calmly throughout, for the blanket at her back to fall. She hopes she'll be long gone before that happens. Maybe, just maybe, letting him rest will be what buys him the time for _Voyager_ to locate them. She recalls with apprehension how hard it had been to find Tom, Tuvok, and Samantha when they'd been trapped under rock in the _Flyer_.

This time the differences might just be enough to kill them. First, she's not out there. Not that she has any special ability to sniff people out, but if she was out there and he was in here, she'd work non-stop to find him alive. She knows he'd do the same. Second, they're just in a caved-in cave. There are no metal readings to help locate them. Third, the plasma storm that'd sent them for cover in the first place probably prevented _Voyager_ from reading their loss of signal right away.

The blanket falls.

B'Elanna halts her musings to listen for Tom's breath. Her head rises a few inches when he takes another breath. She lets out a shaky exhale. He sounds like he's sleeping. _That's good isn't it?_ Sleeping acts almost like stasis, putting the sleeper into a lower functioning state. He should last longer if he sleeps. The thought makes her guilty for wanting to have his company a moment ago.

If he dies and she lives, there won't be anyone to pull her out of her downward spiral. When it'd happened the first time, Chakotay noticed and made it known, but it was Tom who lured her out of that dark maw.

Maybe she should move more, waste oxygen, so she'll go with Tom? She dismisses the morbid and ill-informed thought. Using more oxygen would leave Tom with less. If anything, she should try taking fewer breaths. B'Elanna does just this. She draws a breath in at the same time as Tom, but holds it until he exhales a second breath. It burns her lungs to wait on such little oxygen, but she doesn't care. She doesn't want to live if it's without Tom.

B'Elanna doesn't know how much time passes this way. It's hard to track time when she's lacking oxygen. She tunes in to Tom's breathing, using it as her guide and rock as she finally lets her eyes close to welcome sleep.

"B'Elanna?" She winces at the sound. She feels groggy. "B'Elanna?" She opens her eyes to see the Doctor hovering over her. Involuntarily, she starts patting at her body to make sure she isn't a ghost. Things feel normal.

"Doctor? What am I doing here?"

"Recovering from extreme oxygen deprivation. How do you feel?"

"Tingly." It's true. Her limbs don't quite feel like her own yet.

"That's to be expected. Your cells are being reintroduced to ample supplies of oxygen. You nearly died," he states seriously. B'Elanna's chest clenches.

"Tom?" She sits up, feeling slightly dizzy, but the Doctor doesn't stop her.

"Still sleeping it off." The Doctor steps aside to allow her a visual of Tom. "He doesn't have the same number of lungs as you." He's laying on the bed adjacent to her with his arms folded over the blanket low on his stomach. She lets out a shaky and relieved breath when she sees his chest rise strongly. Without asking, B'Elanna slides off of the biobed and hovers over Tom. 

He'd been cold in the cave. She touches his hand. It's a little chilled, but B'Elanna writes that up to the cool Sickbay air. She slides the blanket out from under his arms and pulls it over him, tucking it at his chin. When she looks at his face, his eyes are open.

"B'Elanna." He smiles. She drops down to hug his shoulders. He gasps, wiggles an arm free, and pulls her close. They don't move for a long time. She can hear his strong breath at her ear and she's grateful for it. B'Elanna pulls away to study his face. She dips down to kiss him.

"I dreamed about you," Tom states after she pulls away. B'Elanna still has a hand on his cheek. She can't bear to be separated now and since the Doctor is the only other person here, she doesn't need to worry about judgmental or jealous looks.

"What did you dream about?" Tom smirks. B'Elanna draws back with a laugh and then leans closer to whisper.

"You were dying and you dreamed about sex?"

"Dying is _why_ I was dreaming about sex." She furrows her eyebrows, confused. "What? It's not like I had the energy to actually have sex." She kisses him again without parting her lips.

"Past tense," she hums when she pulls back with half-lidded eyes.

"Did you happen to have any dreams?" Tom asks suggestively as he sits up. The blanket falls down to his hips. She remembers the darkness of her sleep. She'd thought she _had_ died. B'Elanna slides her hand to rest over his shoulder and distract herself. She brings her other hand to his other shoulder at the same time. Tom puts his hands on her waist and pulls her a little closer.

"No. But I wouldn't be opposed to making some of yours come true." He gives her a nudge to request some space. She steps back as he stands. Their hands and arms remain where they are.

"You don't even know what I dreamed about," he whispers huskily. He turns her around in his arms and pulls her tight to his chest. She gasps and then gasps again when his lips find that sensitive spot at the back of her neck under her hair.

"I'm sure I'll like it plenty." She smirks. "Computer, two to transport to Torres' quarters." The transporter beam whisks her and Tom into the buffer and to her quarters, nearly as much Tom's as her own by this point. Tom divests her of her blue Sickbay top immediately. His tongue runs down her spine, tracing the ridges and pressing kisses to all her sensitive places. She hums. "What did you have in mind?" He kisses back up her spine before turning her around to face him.

"Something to celebrate not dying." She smiles. He kisses her, taking her smile with him when he draws her tongue into his mouth. They wrestle for dominance before Tom hands it to her easily. She rises on her toes to deepen the kiss. He responds by wrapping his arms around her tightly. She can feel Tom's erection against her stomach. Tom breaks the kiss. B'Elanna takes the opportunity to find out more.

"How do you celebrate not dying?" She wants solid answers. She craves them. Tom hums.

"With lots of TLC." She doesn't know the word. She'd thought that by this point she'd gotten used to all of Tom's phrases.

"TLC?"

"Tender Loving Care." He swoops her up, bridal style, deposits a chaste kiss on her lips, and then carries her to her bed with long strides. He rests her carefully on the covers. He takes off his Sickbay blues and his boxers, next. This isn't what she'd been expecting. Since coming clean about wanting to be more Klingon in the bedroom after their restart, Tom had been even more willing to give as good as he got. She'd at least expected to wrestle a little, but even in kissing, he'd been malleable to her plunders. Tom places little kisses down the middle of her chest when he straddles her. As he kisses lower, he slides lower until his lips are even with her waistband. He draws back and pulls pants and underwear from her body. The clothing falls somewhere to the floor with a rush of air.

Tom kisses back up her body, putting a hand between their pelvises to alternately rub her or slide a finger into her. She rocks against him as they kiss. Her body's senses are heightened. She puts that down as a response to near death. There's probably adrenaline still coursing through her. She sighs as Tom slips away to kiss her chest. He sucks her right nipple into his mouth. At the same time, he slips two fingers into her. She arches a few centimeters off the bed with a moan. She slides her hands through his hair in the way she knows he likes. He hums against her breast, wrapping tendrils of pleasure around her core. He kisses across the valley of her breasts to latch onto her other breast. After wetting the nipple, he draws back and breaths heavily on it. Any other time, that would merely send shivers down her spin. Seeing him alive and breathing, makes her come _alive_ in her skin. She squirms and mewls at him.

"Tom, more," she pleads. He responds by leaning back for a good angle to pump his fingers in and out of her. She's already so aroused that his fingers make hot, wet slapping sounds. She moans at the provocative noise and the teasing motion. She toys with squeezing her inner muscles around his fingers to draw more pleasure from it. She feels an orgasm building: little tendrils of warmth wrapping around her body, making her want to buck and press. She grinds her hips in a circle and Tom puts his other hand on her clit, tapping lightly, then rubbing roughly. She groans. She knows this will be a big one. Already she's loosing control of her rhythm. Tom has to guide her more and more.

She screams when it hits, digging her heels into the bed behind Tom and arching her hips up to engulf as much of his hand as possible. Waves wash and break over her as Tom continues pumping his hand to elongate her pleasure. When it passes, she thumps back to the bed, gloriously sated and panting. Tom lays his body over her. He wraps his arms around her shoulders and neck—to project his love no doubt—while nuzzling his head next to her left ear. She can smell herself on his fingers so near to her head. B'Elanna turns to face Tom and he kisses her, continuing as he turns to make her face the ceiling. She lazily throws her still tingling arms over his shoulders. Once she recovers, she starts rocking her hips against his. He responds in kind, cock sliding against her folds with promise.

She feels unnaturally empty after her release. Tom must be thinking something similar because he lifts his hips, drops a hand between them, aligns, and then slides in slowly, rapturously. B'Elanna moans her satisfaction as his hips once again meet hers. She could stay this way forever.

Tom slides away and back in slowly. B'Elanna's eyes flutter open when he breaks their kiss. She looks deep into his cerulean eyes. He picks up the pace, giving her reason to moan. He closes his eyes with a groan when she matches his rhythm with the pulse of her inner muscles. They go on, listening to their groans, moans, breathy cries, and wet skin slaps. B'Elanna feels the tendrils circle around her lovingly. She goads them on by holding her inner muscles together for longer. Tom babbles incoherently. It could be her name. It could be his love. It could be his favorite food. She assumes it's her name. She tries pulling him down for a kiss, but he's too focused on his thrusts to be a responsive kisser. No matter, she has fun biting his lips and moaning against their plump flesh.

He tucks his head to her shoulder and hugs her body. The skin between them is sweaty, deliciously so. Everything slips and slides like a well-oiled machine. She runs her nails over his back, both to edge him faster and because she knows he likes it. He groans and picks up the pace. With them pressed together and her legs splayed sideways, his pubic bone grinds fantastically against her engorged clit. She wiggles to pull a little more out of the sensation and her breath catches once before she shouts his name when the tide rolls in. Tom's still thrusting into her. His thick member stokes her orgasm's flames and it seems to go on forever. Tom finally pushes in roughly and pauses with a loud groan near her ear. She squeezes her inner muscles, having forgotten them at the edge of her orgasm. He shudders in her arms. She kisses the side of his sweaty neck, appreciatively.

Tom remains over her to catch his breath. The sensation of his chest rising and falling in opposition to hers fills her with joy. He rolls off her with a sigh and opens his arms. She shifts to be cradled in them. Her right leg gets thrown over his thighs. Her right arm rests diagonally along his chest. Her left foot hides under his calf. Her left arm tucks against his side. She places her head in the small bowl where his shoulder and chest meet. She sighs contently as his hand rubs circles into her back. She likes TLC plenty.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for tolerating my (often) late posts and reading the stories I wrote this month. It's been a fun adventure that really exercised my creative muscles.
> 
> Thank you for leaving comments and kudos. It always makes me smile to see a new comment in my inbox or a surge of kudos the next time I look at the story.
> 
> I'll probably disappear a bit because I'm going to try my first NaNoWriMo for November. I literally came up with an idea yesterday so we'll see how that goes. I might post by chapter; I might wait till the end. I haven't decided yet.
> 
> <3


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